A new deal for farmers

The latest move by the Government to allow the dividends accrued from agricultural exports to flow into the rural community is a ground breaking development which will go a long way in empowering our farmer community which forms the backbone of the nation.

According to Senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa who declared open an Agro Export Zone in Bingiriya, dividends from exports which were hitherto confined to a few individuals would now be distributed among a wider section of the people mainly from the rural hinterland with the setting up of Agro-export zones.

He said “under this scheme, rural people will function not only as farmers but also as stakeholders of the export drive”.

The move while giving pride of place to the farmer would also ensure he is elevated to a level where he would be a main stakeholder in the whole transaction. The current move would now have our farmers involved and rightfully claim their just rewards. Above all it would provide the rural farmer with a hands on opportunity of ensuring the fruits of his labour.

This exactly is the scenario in the Western countries where the farmers are not mere bystanders allowing themselves to be exploited but stakeholders in their own right.They are also well versed in the nitty gritty of trade and marketing and refuse to be duped. Farmers in these countries are a well knit community and have organised themselves to be a powerful voice that receive the attention of the state.

Hopefully this new move to get our farmers to be stakeholders of the export drive would give them the necessary sophistication to be more pro-active and militant like their Western counterparts instead of being mere docile onlookers of the passing scene where others benefit from their sweat and toil.

In this respect the Government should be commended for helping the farmers to carve out a niche for themselves beyond their traditional calling and to be elevated to their rightful position in the country’s development stakes.

Ideally such a concept should be extended to cover areas such as the fishery sector where today our fishermen are denied their due dividends even after risking their lives at sea while the exporters make hay at their expense.

What is of importance is the creation of awareness among the farmers and our fishermen of the true potential for their harvests and provide them with the necessary wherewithal to reap the maximum benefits.

Lesson from Veddha community

Medical tests carried out on a group of Veddhas have revealed them to be devoid of diseases such as diabetes, blood pressure or hypertension commonly prevalent among the more urbanised society.

This comes in the wake of alarming reports of the increasing number of diabetics in the country including infants. Doctors point to a direct co-relation between diabetes and sedentary lifestyles of present day society. Certain eating habits and indulgence in junk food too have compounded the problem.

It goes without saying that the present day lifestyles are not given to physical activity among the younger generation.

In the pre-television era it was common to see playgrounds around the country brimming with sports activity.

Today such playgrounds are rare with development overrunning land space. There are also no youth clubs that promote healthy outdoor pursuits and sports activity as in the past. Besides the rat race for examination results has put paid to leisurely pursuits making time spent on sports activity a luxury.

The cumulative effect is a society afflicted with illnesses and diseases that were not prevalent among their more active and robust forbearers in the past.

This certainly does not auger well for a nation which is on the threshold of taking off on a massive development drive following the dawn of peace.

We should take a leaf from our Veddha community whose robust activity have kept them in the trim and spared them the diseases that afflict those of us who have got entrenched in modern living.

The Government should take a serious view of the declining health standards of the larger populace and pay heed to medical opinion that listless sedentary lifestyles we lead are taking a heavy toll on the nation.

One wonders if schools still conduct Physical Training (PT) classes as in the past. If so they could compensate for the after school tuition classes that leave no room whatsoever for any physical activity for the youth.

Programs should be commenced to encourage our youth into more and more outdoor pursuits if we are to preserve ourselves as a healthy nation and easing the burden on a bloated national health budget on illness that could well be prevented by changing our lifestyles.